1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of clamps for garment hangers, for example of the type disposed in the tops of garment bags, for holding in place hangers and their garments as the garment bag is handled during transit. In particular, the invention relates to such a clamp having a rigid frame member upon which the hangers are placed, and a clamp bar, rotatable in the plane of the frame member, with an eccentric protruding portion that can be rotated to bear against the frame member along its length, thereby clamping the hangers in place.
2. Prior Art
The prior art includes many variations of garment bags and other pieces of luggage designed to retain a hanger or the like upon which a garment is placed. The hanger is a wire or other form having a hook at the top, normally to be hooked over a closet rod. When used on garments in luggage, it is desirable that the garment stay on the hanger and the hanger remain stationary as the luggage is handled. However, in practice, garments are prone to slip off the hangers when the hangers are displaced, and the hangers are prone to become displaced and even to slip off the retaining mechanism (if any) provided in garment bags for supporting the hangers when the garment bag is unfolded and hung by its upper end. Accordingly, the prior art has conceived of various retaining means intended removably to retain the hangers. In one type of device, the hanger retaining apparatus requires a special type of hanger, for example having a pivotable hook end which can be rotated downwardly to enable a special retention mechanism. An example of such a hanger is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,211-Platt. Devices are likewise known for use with hangers of a substantially conventional structure, e.g., having a body portion dimensioned to resemble a person's shoulders, and a central upper wire hook, normally placed over a closet rod or the like.
Notwithstanding extensive efforts to provide special hanger structures, hanger hooks and clamps to retain clothes hangers in the upper portion of garment bags, the hangers still have a way of coming loose or at least becoming displaced, whereupon the user finds his or her garments wadded in the bottom of the garment bag upon arrival at the end of a trip. In attempts to overcome these difficulties, recent garment retaining mechanisms have positively engaged the hanger hook ends to ensure that the hangers will not readily be displaced or disengaged from the hanger retaining means.
Hanger retaining clamps have been proposed in a number of different structural arrangements. These arrangements are typically characterized by a hingeable attachment at one end of two elongated elements forming jaws, with the opposite end having a clasp for holding the jaws closed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,456-London teaches a clamp of this type, adapted to engage the shank portion of a hanger just below the closet rod engaging hook. Two elongated jaw members are hinged together at one end via a pin defining a vertical pivot axis, and a clip fixed at the other end to one of the jaws can be rotated around the other of the jaws to hold the hinged jaws together around the hangers and thereby hold the hangers against displacement leading to their falling downward in the garment bag. This arrangement positively captures the hangers when the clamp is closed. However, it can be quite difficult to manipulate hangers onto and off of the clamping mechanism without dropping them, making the clamp only openable as a practical matter when the hangers are hung on a closet bar. Without independent support from a closet bar, the user must be able to hold a plurality of hangers and their garments in position to be clamped and at the same time close and lock the jaws, which can be difficult. As a practical matter, these devices are of limited usefulness except in situations in which the garment hangers are all already hung from a closet bar and a garment bag is wrapped around them in place. Another example of a clamp of this type, characterized by elongated jaw members hinged at one end and locked by locking means disposed at the opposite end, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,948,019-Ballentine.
In other hinged jaw devices, the jaws and hinging axis are rotated ninety degrees compared to London '456 such that one of the two elongated jaw members is rigidly attached at the top inside wall of a garment bag and the other of the jaw members hinges downwardly via a horizontally-oriented hinge axis disposed at the top and rear of the garment bag. As in the London '456 clamp a clasp member is attached to one of the jaws at the front of the mechanism and can engage the other of the jaws for holding the two jaws together against the hangers. In this case the clamp encloses around an uppermost point in the hanger hook rather than on the shank of the hanger.
In providing a hingeable clamp mechanism wherein the lower jaw hinges downwardly, a problem is encountered similar to problems encountered when opening the London '456 clamp. When the clamp clasp is opened to disengage the two jaws, the lower jaw falls away, whereupon the hangers on the lower jaw slide off unless held manually. A user can accommodate this problem by taking care not to open the jaw unless the hangers are otherwise supported. However, due to the fact that the clamp engages the hanger hooks, the hangers cannot be supported thereby on a closet rod.
According to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,363,388 and 4,252,220, both to London et al., means are provided for limiting the maximum angle at which the jaws can be opened. Therefore, when the clamp is opened the lower jaw slants downwardly from the pivot axis but stays close enough to the upper jaw that a bail-type closure at the distal end of the jaws can be extended across the opening between the jaws to retain the hangers against slipping off the lower jaw. Such a bail closure also, of course, limits the angular opening of the jaws by its own structure. One drawback is that the bail closure interferes with the user's free access to the space between the jaws, needed to insert and remove hangers. Another drawback is that opening the clamp jostles the hangers and their garments as the hanger-supporting lower jaw falls open.
The closure at the distal end of the jaw members spans across the opening of the jaws to draw the jaws closed. This requires a user to manipulate the locking bail or like closure with one hand and to manipulate the lower jaw and the hangers with the other hand. This can be cumbersome. Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,058-Gregg and 4,640,414-Mobley et al. carry this structural concept a step further and teach a closure that is spring biased to open and clear the space between the jaws. Rather than clamp the hangers between a movable lower jaw and a stationary upper jaw as in London '388, London '220 and the like, the Gregg and Mobley patents teach a stationary lower jaw mounted at a space below the top of the garment bag on a rigid C-shaped frame. A movable upper jaw hinged at the back of the C-frame bears downwardly on the hangers as they are placed on the lower jaw. The rigid C-frame is mounted by its upper end at the top of a garment bag. The intermediate movable jaw member is hinged to the rigid frame at a horizontal pivot axis at the rear portion of the rigid C frame, whereby the intermediate jaw member hinges either downwardly against the lower frame member of the C-shaped frame and the hangers thereon, or upwardly away from the hangers. In addition to the rigid C-frame and movable jaw member, a movable locking member is hinged to the front, distal end of the movable jaw member. The locking member also hinges on a horizontal axis and has an eccentric portion that bears from inside the C-frame against the upper leg of the C-frame to force the movable jaw member against the lower C-frame member, thereby clamping the hangers.
By including a spring bias means to force the intermediate movable jaw upwardly whenever the locking member is disengaged, the clamp will remain open and the space above the lower leg of the rigid C-frame is clear for loading or unloading of hangers. Inasmuch as the lower leg of the C-frame is rigidly mounted to the garment bag and forms the primary support structure for the hangers, there is no danger that the hangers will fall off the unit when the clamp is allowed to open. On the other hand, the arrangement has inherent drawbacks. In order to function as described, it is necessary to include all the noted parts, namely, the rigid C-shaped frame, the intermediate movable jaw and the locking member hinged to the intermediate jaw, all of which are hinged together and relatively movable, as well as the spring which biases the intermediate jaw to open. If a user omits the biassing spring, then gravity urges the intermediate jaw closed against the stationary lower jaw, whereby two hands once again are required in order to manipulate the locking clamp.
According to the present invention, the number of moving parts is reduced to a minimum, while retaining the benefits of a stationary rigid C-frame having a lower member for supporting the hangers. According to the invention, it is not necessary to spring bias any hinged jaw member toward an open position and no relatively rotatable locking tab or locking bail blocking access are necessary. These benefits accrue by abandoning the prior art concept of hingeably attaching jaw members by one end and locking them together at their opposite ends to engage the hangers. In place of the elongated hinged-together jaws of the prior art, the invention employs a clamping bar disposed on an axis in the plane of the frame member rather than perpendicular thereto. The clamping bar is rotatable on the axis and has an eccentric protrusion along its length. By rotating the clamping bar such that the eccentric protrusion moves downwardly against the lower leg of the C-frame, the hangers are clamped. By rotating the eccentric of the clamping bar upwardly, the lower leg of the C-frame is cleared for loading or unloading hangers without interference. Unlike Gregg and Mobley, which require a relatively movable locking means on the movable intermediate jaw, the rotatable clamp bar of the invention preferably includes an operating lever rigidly attached to the clamping bar for a user to manually rotate the clamping bar between the closed and open positions. The clamping bar can be provided with a simple stop abutting the C-frame in the closed position, for preventing over-rotation. A detent mechanism operating between a rear end face of the clamping bar and the inside of the rear leg of the C-frame can be included to positively retain the clamping bar in the closed and open positions, respectively.
By replacing hinged jaws with an eccentric clamp, the invention reduces the complexity of the device. The invention also changes the forces on the apparatus in use. The user will exert a force on the eccentric clamp bar tending to rotate the C-frame around its axis adjacent the upper leg. Accordingly, a pair of wing-like supports extend perpendicularly outwards from the upper C-frame leg, including means to securely attach the clamp to a garment bag. The eccentric clamp bar can be journalled at the rear of the rigid C-frame, and preferably is journalled at both the rear and the distal end of the top leg of the C-frame. The journalled (rotatable) connection between the clamp bar and the C-frame at the front or distal end of the top C-frame leg is defined by a yoke that is deformed around a portion of the clamping bar when assembled. The relationship between the clamping bar and the C-frame can be male or female, however, it is preferred that the connection at the rear of the C-frame be defined by a cylindrical integral pin extending from the C-frame, which fits into a complementary opening in the end of the clamping bar.